


Honesty Hour

by bayoublackjack



Series: Love in London [29]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Elementary (TV), Royal Pains, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Female Friendship, Multiple Crossovers, POV Joan Watson, Revelations, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 20:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3222566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Joan gathers the girls together for brunch, honesty is on the menu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honesty Hour

It was a game Joan reminded herself.  That was what Moriarty did.  It was how she operated.  She was a criminal mastermind.  Manipulation was her bread and butter.  Moriarty was playing her and Joan refused to let her win.  She’d figure out how to stop her, but in order to do that, she needed to look at the big picture.  She needed all the fact.  And more importantly, she needed to know how Molly fit into Moriarty’s plans.

A few days after her meeting with Moriarty, Joan gathered the girls to her place for a Sunday brunch.  Molly and Martha were already there, but she Divya was unsurprisingly late.  “Have either of you heard from her?” Joan asked while taking her place at the table with the other two.

Martha shook her head as she tucked into her food.  “No.  Not since the party.”

“I’m worried,” Molly said with a frown.

“We all are,” Joan insisted.

“She must be out of her head,” continued Molly.  She looked at Martha.  “Do you remember uni?  She was absolutely gutted when she learned she may never have children.”

Martha sighed softly.  “I can’t even begin to imagine what she must be feeling right now.”

“A whole host of things,” Divya said from the doorway.  The other three quickly turned their attention to her.

“Div!”  Molly sprang out of her seat and threw her arms around the other woman, urging her towards the chair she had just vacated.  “You should sit down.  And eat!  Take mine.  I get another plate.”

“I’m pregnant, Molly, not infirmed,” Divya protested, but she took a seat all the same.

“Where have you been?” Martha asked.  “None of us have heard from you.”

“I was with Rafa,” Divya informed them.

Joan set her fork down.  “And how did take the news?”

“Well…”  Divya held up her left hand to show a gold band where her fake engagement ring from Jeremiah had previously been.

Molly returned to the table with a fresh plate of food that she nearly dropped at the sight.  “Is that a wedding ring?”  Divya nodded.  “You  _married_ him?”

Martha sputtered her juice and quickly reached for her napkin.  “Are you mental?”

“What about Jeremiah?” Molly asked.

Divya lowered her hand to her lap.  “Yes, I did marry him.”  She glanced at Martha.  “No, I’m  _not_ mental.  And what about Jeremiah?  Our engagement was only temporary until I could find something real.”

“And this thing with Rafa is real?” Joan questioned.

“I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t think it was real,” Divya countered pointedly.

“No one is saying it’s a bad thing, Div,” said Molly.  “It’s just so…”

“Sudden,” Martha supplied.

“Yea.”  Molly nodded.  “You’ve only known each other a couple of months and even then…”

“You’ve only spent about a fortnight together,” finished Martha.

“Joan and John didn’t know each other very long,” Divya reasoned.

“It was about six months,” Joan acknowledged.  “But we also lived together for a while before he proposed.”

“But you knew you loved him early on right?” Divya pressed.

“I knew he was special,” Joan said.  “Love came a bit later.”

Divya sighed heavily.  “Martha what about you?” she asked, turning her attention from one woman to the other.  “Didn’t you know right from the start that Tom was the man for you?”

Martha averted her eyes.  “I don’t think I’m the best example to go off of.”

“You and Tom are perfect,” Divya insisted.

Martha shook her head.  “We’re really not.”

“Of course you are.  Name one thing wrong with your relationship,” Divya challenged.  “I dare you.”

Martha closed her eyes and exhaled sharply.  “I’m having an affair.”

Divya laughed dismissively.  “Yea, right.”

Joan and Molly exchanged worried glanced.  “I don’t think she’s kidding,” Joan said slowly.

Divya’s expression sobered.  “What?”

Martha opened her eyes to look at her friends.  “It’s true.  For the past couple of months, I’ve been sleeping with someone off and on.”

“Who?” Joan asked.

“It was that damn John Smith, wasn’t it?” Molly guessed.

Martha nodded.  “It started the day we got back from Las Vegas, but even before thing there was flirting…and snogging.”

“I can’t believe he did this to you,” Molly seethed as she reached for her water glass.  “I’m going to kill him.”

Martha sighed.  “It’s not his fault, Molly.”

“Not his fault?”  Molly balked.  “He’s been trying to seduce you for months knowing bloody well that you were in a relationship.”

Martha scoffed softly.  “See, but the thing is…you can’t seduce someone who doesn’t  _want_ to be seduced,” she argued.  “Sex is pretty black and white.  Either you’re a willing participant or not.  John never forced me.  I gave in to him…over and over again, because I felt alive when I was with him.  I felt important and cherished.”

“He took advantage of your emotional state!” Molly retorted.

“John turned me down more than once because he thought I was doing it for the wrong reason,” Martha informed them.  “I knew what I was doing…what I was risking by having sex with him.”

“Martha…”  Divya shook her head.  “This isn’t you.”

“And eloping with a bloke you barely know is you?” Martha countered.

Divya huffed at the accusation.  “That’s not bloody fair.”

“Stop it,” Joan cut in.  “Don’t turn this into a fight.”

They all fell into a prolonged silence until Molly suddenly slammed her glass down.  “Martha Jones, how could you go and do something so incredibly stupid?” she asked angrily.

Martha groaned softly and buried her face in her hands.  “I know.  I’ve gone and ruined my marriage before it’s even started.”

“Not that,” Molly retorted in a calmer tone.  “I mean, yes that  _is_ bad, but it isn’t what I’m talking about.”  She stood up from her seat and walked over to Martha’s side of the table.  “I just don’t understand how you could keep something like this to yourself.”

“Because…” Martha exhaled sharply and looked up.  “Because I couldn’t stand the thought of you being disappointed in me.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Molly protested.  “Martha, I’m your best friend, but you’re more than that to me.  You’re like my sister.  I love you, you silly thing,” she declared as she wrapped her up in a tight embrace.  “Faults and all.”

Joan got up as well.  “Molly’s right,” she said putting her arms around the two of them.  “We’re your friends.  You can tell us anything.”

Divya nodded and reached for Martha’s hand across the table.  “It’s not like any of us are in the position to judge.”

“So what happens now?” Joan questioned as they pulled apart.

Martha sighed heavily.  “That’s a good question.”

“Do you love John?”  Molly asked gently.  “Are you going to leave Tom for him?”

“I don’t know.”  Martha shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know much of anything right now, honestly.  Except…”  She looked at the others for support and Divya squeezed her hand gently.  “I have to tell Tom the truth.  He deserves to know.  I don’t know if he’ll still want to marry me afterwards, but either way it needs to be said.”

Molly nodded and rubbed Martha’s shoulders.  “It’s important to be honest,” she agreed.

Joan had been waiting for the opportunity to air her grievances and this seemed like the perfect segue.  “Since we’re on the subject of honesty…”  She fixed Molly with a hard stare.  “Why didn’t you tell me about Sherlock asking you to go with him to a recovery meeting?”

“Oh.”  Molly appeared flustered by the sudden change in conversation, but she settled herself before answering.  “I assumed he would have told you about that himself.”

Joan exhaled sharply through her nose.  “Apparently there are a lot of things he isn’t saying these days.”

“He’s okay,” Molly promised.  “He just needed to sort himself after his row with John.”

Joan honed in on her again and Molly winced.  “His what?”

“You never mentioned them fighting,” Martha commented with a furrowed brow.

“Because they haven’t been,” Joan said, but as soon as the words left her mouth she already doubted them.

“There did to seem to be some tension between them at the party,” Divya pointed out.  “John looked properly pissed off like he could barely stand to be in the same room with him.”

“But I don’t understand why,” Joan retorted.  “I know he was upset with Sherlock keeping the truth about his brother’s death a secret, but he said he had gotten over that.”

Martha looked at Molly who was fidgeting nervously.  “Molly, do you know what their argument was about?”

“I think I’ve already said too much,” Molly answered.

“Molly,” Joan said her name calmly and closed the gap between them.  “If there’s something going on between my husband and my best friend and you can help me figure it out, you have to tell me.”

Molly conceded with a nod and a quiet sigh.  “John asked Sherlock if he was in love with you.”

Moriarty’s declaration replayed in Joan’s head, but it still made no sense even from Molly’s mouth.  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Joan replied.  “Sherlock and I aren’t like that.”

“Maybe not to you…” Molly continued hesitantly.  “But Sherlock admitted it to me,” she informed her.  “And John knows as well.”


End file.
